Bulldogs struggle down the stretch

Wednesday, January 20

Boise, Idaho

6 p.m. PT

Fresno State

5-6, 3-6MW

Boise State

13-1, 9-0MW

Fresno State

Boise St.

Bulldogs struggle down the stretch

1/20/2021 9:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Fresno State sophomore forward Orlando Robinson scored 17 points and had nine rebounds in the Bulldogs' 73-51 loss at Boise State on Wednesday night.

By: Stephen Trembley / Director of New Media

BOISE, Idaho – The Fresno State men's basketball team suffered a 73-51 loss at Boise State on Wednesday night at ExtraMile Arena.

Fresno State (5-6, 3-6 Mountain West) grabbed an early and halftime lead before running into a Bronco buzzsaw down the stretch.

Sophomore forward Orlando Robinson had a team-high 17 points and nine rebounds for the Bulldogs, who led by as many as eight points early in the second half.

The win was the 13th in a row for Boise State (13-1, 9-0 MW), who was led by Derrick Alston's 21-point performance.

The Bulldogs and Broncos will meet again in Boise on Friday at 6 p.m. PT to finish the two-game conference series.

How it happened: Fresno State's defense held Boise State without a field goal for the first seven minutes and six seconds of the game with the Broncos missing their first 11 shot attempts.

The Bulldogs, who jumped out to a 15-7 lead and later were up 36-28 after making two corner 3-pointers to open the second half, found success by attacking the paint, especially in the first half.

22 of Fresno State's 30 opening-half points came inside at the basket.

But the Broncos took advantage of 16 Bulldog turnovers to win even though Fresno State led for most of the first 30 minutes of the game before giving up a 30-5 closing run to final buzzer.

Quotes:
Justin Hutson, Fresno State head coach
On the game...
"A couple things started to go their way and they made it go their way and when it was time for us to step up we folded a little bit. You always have to give credit to the other team. That's close to a Top 25 team. We're on the road. And for 27 minutes I thought we played how we're supposed to. I don't think we played great. I don't think we made a ton of shots. I thought we left some stuff on the board, but I thought we played how we were supposed to. We moved the ball. We took good shots. We found the open man and we defended and we rebounded. I'm hoping the 27 turns into 35. I mean, the next perfect game is going to be the first perfect game. But I didn't like the look in their eye when they went on a run... We need some intensity out there to rebound the basketball. That's what I'm hoping I see. When that intensity goes up and we're getting stops, we have five guys going after that ball."

Next up: Fresno State finishes its four-game road trip when the Bulldogs play game two of its two-game series at Boise State on Friday at 6 p.m. PT on CBS Sports Network and 940 AM ESPN Radio.

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